Saudi foreign minister meets with Chinese counterpart

Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met with Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang during his official visit to China (SPA)

Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met with Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang during his official visit to China on Wednesday.

After years of hostility that fueled conflicts across the Middle East, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to end their diplomatic rift and re-open embassies in a major deal facilitated by China last month

During the meeting, both reviewed relations between Saudi Arabia and China, and ways to enhance cooperation in all areas.

The two sides also discussed developments regarding the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, in a way that achieves common interests and enhances efforts to lay the foundations for peace in the region and the world.

Prince Faisal also expressed his appreciation of the positive role that China played in reaching the Saudi-Iranian agreement.

The two countries said in a joint statement they would launch arrangements to reopen embassies and consulates within the two-month period stipulated in the deal last month.

"The technical teams will continue coordination to examine the ways of expanding cooperation including the resumption of flights and bilateral visits of official and private sector delegations and facilitating the granting of visas for the citizens of the two countries," they said.

In March, China's President Xi Jinping helped broker the surprise deal between the rivals to end a seven-year rift and restore diplomatic ties - a display of China's growing influence in the region.

That month, Xi spoke by telephone with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud about several issues.

Foreign ministers of Iran, Saudi Arabia meet in China

The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia have met in Beijing in the first formal meeting of the two countries’ top diplomats in seven years.

Saudi Arabia’s state-run broadcaster Al Ekhbariya released brief footage of the meeting on Twitter on Thursday showing Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, shaking hands and smiling in front of a traditional Chinese painting as well as the flags of their respective countries

They then headed into a meeting room where they sat down in wide armchairs and chatted.

فيديو | موفد #الإخبارية إلى بكين عبد الله الرويس: لقاء يجمع وزير الخارجية الأمير فيصل بن فرحان ووزير الخارجية الإيراني حسين أمير عبد اللهيان pic.twitter.com/rz80Vz7VAB

— قناة الإخبارية (@alekhbariyatv) April 6, 2023

Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed in March to restore ties and reopen diplomatic missions within two months after a years-long rift that raised tensions in the Gulf region and deepened conflicts from Yemen to Syria.

The two men discussed steps towards reopening their embassies and consulates, the AFP news agency reported citing Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency.

China helped bring the two sides together and broker the landmark agreement.

Riyadh cut formal ties after Iranian protesters attacked Saudi Arabian diplomatic missions in 2016 following Saudi Arabia’s execution of Shia Muslim leader Nimr al-Nimr – one in a series of flashpoints between the two longstanding regional rivals.

Iranian Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian said the Thursday meeting with his Saudi counterpart was "good and forward-looking," according to Iranian state TV.

China's role in the breakthrough shook up dynamics in the Middle East, where the United States has for decades been the main mediator.

Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran in 2016 after its embassy in Tehran was stormed during a dispute between the two countries over Riyadh's execution of a Shi'ite Muslim cleric.

The kingdom then asked Iranian diplomats to leave within 48 hours while it evacuated its embassy staff from Tehran.

The relationship began worsening a year earlier, after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates intervened in the Yemen war, where the Iran-aligned Houthi movement ousted a Saudi-backed government and took over the capital, Sanaa.

For Saudi Arabia, the rapprochement could mean improved security. The kingdom has blamed Iran for arming the Houthis, who carried out missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabian cities and oil facilities.

In 2019, Riyadh blamed an attack on Aramco oil facilities, which knocked out half of its oil output, directly on the Islamic Republic. Iran denied those accusations.

Russia to Respond Appropriately to Deployment of US Nuclear Weapons in Europe

©Sputnik/Alexey Maishev

Russia will respond accordingly to the deployment of US nuclear weapons in Europe, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

"It does cause concern," Peskov said, commenting on whether the fact of the deployment of US nuclear weapons in Europe causes concern in the Kremlin, adding that Russia will respond appropriately.

Speaking about the behavior of countries surrounding Belarus, Peskov said it is unpredictable and hostile, so Russia can not stay silent.

"Belarus, just like us, is surrounded by countries that are very hostile. Since we are a union state, naturally, Russia cannot leave Belarus alone. The actions of the neighbors are very, very unpredictable, unfriendly, so precautionary measures are definitely needed here," Peskov told reporters. The Kremlin's spokesman also noted that Russia and Belarus will continue working on the creation of a union state.

"The prime ministers of the two countries said [at the Union State’s Supreme State Council] that they really achieved excellent results over the past year, and this work will continue. That was the main thing," Peskov noted.

Peskov added that Moscow and Minsk will update their approaches to security guarantees due to the development of the situation in the world.

"As the international security situation has changed we must update our conceptual approaches. And Russia, of course, should consider the possibility of providing security guarantees for Belarus as its ally and as a country with which we are in the most advanced form of integration," Peskov said.

Ukraine slays own men after they already surrendered, says Putin

©Mikhail Metzel/TASS

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Ukrainian armed forces destroyed 14 of their own servicemen who surrendered at one of the lines of contact, where Russian servicemen were also injured.

"Here is what was reported yesterday: at one of the lines of contact, 14 people - Ukrainian servicemen - surrendered. Fourteen! But it was too late, and a few of our military stayed there with them. They didn’t even guard them, so that later in the morning the soldiers could be taken out of the combat zone. The enemy fired three hundred shells on that one spot! Destroyed all their soldiers," Putin said on Thursday at a meeting with the acting head of the Donetsk People's Republic Denis Pushilin. "Unfortunately, our guys were also injured," the president added.

He stressed that in Ukraine, Russia was dealing with an extremely brutal regime that spared neither Russians nor its own.

"Unfortunately, we are in fact dealing with a regime that is most brutal not only towards our citizens, but also towards its own," Putin said. "They behave in an extremely cynical and cruel way," he repeated.

"Our goal is to push them [Ukrainian troops] away to such a distance so that they cannot cause us any harm," the Russian head of state explained.

Addressing Pushilin, Putin noted that the issues he raised about protecting the population from shelling and the need to expand the capacity of roads were interrelated. "These communication routes, railroads and highways, they need to be built in such a way that both the speed of movement is increased and that they are at a safe enough distance from the combat zone. We will do all this," assured the president.

Putin Announces Plans to Create Security Concept of Union State

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that there are plans to create a security concept of the Union State against the background of growing tensions.

"In this context, the issue of the beginning of the preparation of the security concept of the Union State, which was put on the agenda of the meeting and considered today, is of great importance. This document is meant to formulate the fundamental tasks of our cooperation in the sphere of growing tensions on external borders of our states, the sanctions and information war unleashed against us," Putin said at the meeting of Supreme State Council of the Union State.

Ukrainian saboteurs attempt raid in Russia – official

Russia’s armed forces and its border guard in the Bryansk region have prevented a Ukrainian sabotage-and-reconnaissance unit from entering the country for an operation, governor Aleksandr Bogomaz reported on Thursday.

According to the official, the unit of 20 persons had tried to penetrate Russian territory near the village of Sluchovsk in the Pogarsky district in Bryansk Region, north of Ukraine. However, their attempt was thwarted by Russian forces, who opened fire on the group, Bogomaz said.

Earlier in the day, the governor of the Ukraine-bordering region also reported that Kiev’s troops had launched a mortar strike on the village of Zapesochye, in the Pogarsky district. He claimed that there were no casualties as a result of the attack, but noted that ten residential houses and one car were damaged in the shelling.

On Wednesday, Bogomaz also reported that a Ukrainian UAV had dropped an explosive device in the region, injuring one person.

Last month, another group of Ukrainian saboteurs had crossed into Bryansk Region and launched raids on several local villages, killing at least two civilians and injuring one child. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported at the time that it had stopped the group by pushing them back to Ukrainian territory and hitting them with a “massive artillery strike.”

That incident was branded a “terrorist attack” by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called the people responsible for such acts “neo-Nazis and terrorists.”

Russian regions bordering Ukraine have regularly come under attack by Kiev’s forces since the start of the protracted conflict. Local authorities in Bryansk and Kursk Regions have repeatedly reported shelling by Ukrainian forces, which has occasionally resulted in civilian casualties but has caused damage to numerous residential buildings.

Governments should seize private land for wind and solar farms, JPMorgan CEO says

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan, has proposed that governments should seize private land to construct wind and solar farms.

Dimon, who donates to the Democratic Party, believes that urgent action is necessary to fast-track green energy initiatives. He claims the time is running out to prevent the most damaging consequences of climate change, Telegraph reported.

JPMorgan CEO suggests governments should seize private land for wind and solar farms

Dimon shared in his annual shareholder letter: “Permitting reforms are desperately needed to allow investment to be done in any kind of timely way.

“We may even need to evoke eminent domain. We simply are not getting the adequate investments fast enough for grid, solar, wind and pipeline initiatives.”

The suggestion made by Dimon is a rare proposal coming from a prominent Wall Street banker.

Some US states are restricting the use of the eminent domain. It is the legal process by which state authorities can force private property owners to sell their assets for public use, with compensation provided.

The suggestion by the CEO may stir controversy, especially coming from a Wall Street bank CEO.

Additionally, Dimon also commented that the conflict in Ukraine is prompting nations and corporations to reconsider their approach to energy security planning.

Dimon urges prompt action to provide affordable and reliable energy

The CEO added that affordable and reliable energy is needed both now and in the future. Furthermore, investments are required to reduce carbon emissions. And these actions are linked to economic growth, energy security, and climate change.

“To expedite progress, governments, businesses and non-governmental organisations need to align across a series of practical policy changes that comprehensively address fundamental issues that are holding us back,” he added.

“Massive global investment in clean energy technologies must be done and must continue to grow year-over-year.”

Insurers and pension funds in the UK had expressed their dissatisfaction with the EU-era regulations under the Solvency 2 rules. This has limited their capacity to invest in infrastructure, including renewable energy projects.

However, recent reforms to Solvency 2 rules are predicted to stimulate an increase in investment in renewable energy projects in the UK.

The Wall Street titan told JP Morgan’s investors in the bank’s annual report: “Massive global investment in clean energy technologies must be done and must continue to grow year-over-year.

“At the same time, permitting reforms are desperately needed to allow investment to be done in any kind of timely way. We may even need to evoke eminent domain – we simply are not getting the adequate investments fast enough for grid, solar, wind and pipeline initiatives.”

‘Eminent domain’ is the right invoked by governments to take over assets for overriding public priorities, with due compensation to their owners.

Dimon’s call reflects a growing clamour around permitting of green power projects as a top-tier barrier to energy transition progress alongside other key hurdles such as grid infrastructure.

While Dimon's comments are likely to find sympathy among some in the clean energy community, JP Morgan Chase is not immune from criticism over its own climate record.

US activist coalition Stop the Money Pipeline in January applauded the filing of shareholder resolutions at the bank and other major US institutions over their role in financing fossil projects.

Michael Esealuka, Louisiana organiser with campaign group Healthy Gulf, said: "Every year we face worsening hurricanes, freezes and floods. Big banks are directly fueling this crisis by financing a massive expansion of petrochemical plants and gas exports in our communities.

"Bank CEOs like Brian Moynihan, David Solomon and Jamie Dimon made climate commitments — that should mean something. Instead they profit off climate chaos as the Gulf South is made into a sacrifice zone for fossil fuels."

Mr Dimon said: “Polarisation, paralysis and basic lack of analysis cannot keep us from addressing one of the most complex challenges of our time. Diverse stakeholders need to come together, seeking the best answers through engagement around our common interest.

“Bolstering growth must go hand in hand with both securing an energy future and meeting science-based climate targets for future generations.”

The banking chief also hit out against regulators in the wake of the banking crisis last month triggered by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

He said the collapse of SVB and the government-engineered takeover of Credit Suisse by its biggest rival risked undermining confidence in the sector. He added: “Ironically, banks were incented to own very safe government securities because they were considered highly liquid by regulators and carried very low capital requirements.”

Mr Dimon also warned regulators against tightening rules for lenders following the recent market turmoil.

He said: “It is extremely important that we avoid knee-jerk, whack-a-mole or politically motivated responses that often result in achieving the opposite of what people intended.

“Now is the time to deeply think through and coordinate complex regulations to accomplish the goals we want, eliminating costly inefficiencies and contradictory policies.

“Very often, rules are put in place in one part of the framework without appreciating their consequences in combination with other regulations.”

Macron calls on Xi to reason with Russia for Ukraine peace

Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron review troops during an official ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

French President Emmanuel Macron urged China's Xi Jinping on Thursday to reason with close ally Russia and help end the Ukraine war, while Xi responded by saying he hoped the two sides could hold peace negotiations as soon as possible.

In closely-watched talks in Beijing, which also involve EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, Macron said the West must engage Beijing to help end the crisis and prevent 'spiralling' tensions that could split global powers into warring blocs.

"The Russian aggression in Ukraine has dealt a blow to (international) stability," Macron told Xi, standing alongside the Chinese president outside the Great Hall of the People at the start of their meeting.

"I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason and everyone back to the negotiating table."

In comments after his meeting with Macron, Xi called for Ukraine and Russia to resume peace talks and find a political solution to the conflict.

France said the discussions between the leaders were "frank and constructive," while China described them as "friendly" and "in-depth".

Macron also asked Xi to press Russia to comply with international rules on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he will station tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine's neighbour Belarus, a move seen as a dangerous escalation in the bloody year-long conflict.

Xi said all countries should respect commitments on not using nuclear weapons and "nuclear war shouldn't be waged", without mentioning Russia. He called on the international community to "refrain from any action that would lead to further deterioration of the crisis or even to it getting out of control".

The EU leaders' visit to China comes after years of souring relations with Beijing over issues including accusations of rights abuse in Xinjiang, a stalled investment pact and China's reluctance to condemn Russia over its Ukraine invasion.

But addressing the press after his arrival on Wednesday, Macron said Europe must resist reducing trade and diplomatic ties with China and reject what some have cast as an "inescapable spiral" of tension between China and the West.

Von der Leyen, on her first trip to China since taking office as European Commission president in 2019, was also set to hold trilateral talks with Macron and Xi on Thursday evening.

Macron also met with Premier Li Qiang before meeting Xi for an elaborate ceremony outside the Great Hall, where the two leaders witnessed a 21-gun salute and strode side-by-side along a red carpet as a brass band played their national anthems.

In comments reported by state media CCTV, Xi said China and France have the ability and responsibility to transcend "differences" and "restraints" as the world undergoes profound historical changes. China was willing to work with the European Union (EU) to restart "exchanges" on all levels, Xi said.

'GOOD COP, BAD COP'

Some analysts had suggested that Macron and von der Leyen may adopt a "good cop, bad cop" role in Beijing with the convivial Frenchman promoting a "reset" in ties and the EU chief laying out the thornier issues and red lines in those relations.

Macron placed both hands on Xi's during a long handshake after they met outside the Great Hall on Thursday. He then gave the Chinese leader an amicable pat on the back as they walked to greet members of each government.

Von der Leyen, who also met Premier Li on Thursday, had just days before the visit said Europe must "de-risk" diplomatically and economically with a hardening China.

"Both Europe and China have benefited immensely from this relationship, however, EU-China relations have become more complex in the recent years and it is important that we discuss together all the aspects of our relations today," von der Leyen said before her meeting with Li.

Li said the partnership with the EU and France stood at "a new starting point" and both parties should adhere to "mutual respect and win-win cooperation".

For its part, China is eager to ensure Europe does not follow what it sees as U.S.-led efforts to contain its rise.

"It is worth noting that various forces in Europe and the U.S. are paying close attention to Macron's visit and exerting influence in different directions," state media outlet Global Times wrote in an editorial. "In other words, not everyone wants to see Macron's visit to China go smoothly and successfully."

UKRAINE PEACE PLAN

Both Macron and von der Leyen have said they want to persuade China to leverage its ties with Russia to bring peace in Ukraine or, at least, deter Beijing from directly supporting Moscow's invasion, which Russia calls a "special military operation".

China earlier this year proposed a 12-point peace plan for the Ukraine crisis, which called on both sides to agree to a gradual de-escalation leading to a comprehensive ceasefire.

The plan was largely dismissed by the West due to China's refusal to condemn Russia, and the U.S. and NATO then said China was considering sending arms to Russia, which Beijing has denied.

More than a year into a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives, there is little sign either side is keen to negotiate.

Macron, travelling with a 50-strong business delegation including Airbus (AIR.PA), luxury giant LVMH (LVMH.PA) and nuclear energy producer EDF (EDF.PA), is also in China seeking economic wins.

Airbus signed deals on Thursday to open a new assembly line in China, doubling its capacity in the world's second-largest aviation market, and give the final green light to some previously announced jet orders.

While the French business community has welcomed Macron's overtures to China, not everyone at home thinks that signing big money deals is good signal to send.

"At a time the debate in Europe focuses on our suicidal dependency on China and Chinese interference, the message is inopportune," Raphael Glucksmann, a left-wing member of the European parliament, wrote on Twitter before Macron's visit.

Cat climbs onto sheikh leading nightly Ramadan prayers

A cat appeared to enjoy the prayers of Sheikh Walid Mehsas in Algeria on Monday (3 April), a video posted by the official page of the sheikh on Facebook showed.

Mehsas was praying 'Taraweeh', a nightly prayer occurring every evening during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Abu Bakr al-Siddiq mosque in the Algerian province of Bordj Bou Arreridj.

The cat wandered around the Sheikh leading the prayer, until it jumped on him. Mehsas appeared undisturbed. He gave the cat a gentle caress and continued reciting the verses for the prayer.

Muslims perform the unique Taraweeh prayers to commemorate the holy month of Ramadan. On social media, a video of a group of men praying to Allah has gone viral. At that very time, a distinguished visitor enters the building and leaps over the Imam, who conducts the collective worship. According to reports, the event happened at a mosque in Bordj Bou Arreridf, Algeria, in North Africa.

The endearing video has received millions of views since it was posted online a few hours ago. Also, it has received several social media shares. One of the responses to the tweeted information asserted that cats enjoy listening to sacred recitals and the Quran. “As I read, my cat used to perch between me and the armrest. Also, she would stand next to us during Sujood (sic) and bend her head “a Twitter user stated.

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